Boil
and pop the head off of the Dax or Rand figure. Depending on the
head you select you will either be able to reinsert it back into the body
or build a suitable neck joint to fit in the neck collar. If all
else fails, just super glue it to the neck. Whatever you choose to
do, make sure the joint is strong so that you can grip the body as you
proceed to the next step. Using the Dremal remove the hair from the
head, shaping the excess plastic to produce the proper shape for Romulan
ears. Dremals are high speed cutting tools, proceed slowly removing
small amount of material at a time, use the X-acto knife to create the
small details within the ears. Use the same tool to remove the uniform
collar and chest badge from the figure. The torso is a hard plastic
but will melt and burn if you proceed too quickly, so again proceed slowly.
You can also scrape the plastic with a x-acto knife to remove this material
but is a harder and slower task. You should also remove the pleat
in the skirt and along the back of the figure. Now begin to mold the hair
in the proper style on to the head, roughly shape it first with the fingers
and than add texture and detail with a x-acto knife. Wet the hair
as needed to smooth the hair as you continue to style it. Take your
time, if you don't like the way it looks the first time, tear it off and
start again. To create the belt, sash and boots, flatten out the
putty using the barrel of the x-acto knife much like a rolling pin.
Cut strips to the proper width by pressing down the edge of the knife,
don't draw it through the putty as it will pull the material. You
can add texture to the strips, before applying them, by lightly pressing
the knife blade or other instrument into the putty. Apply the belt,
sash and upper boot cuffs to the body and legs. Apply thin sections
of putty to the legs, giving the appearance of winkled leather of the boots.
Allow the putty to dry for 24 hours before painting.

PAINTING:

I first painted over
the existing eyebrow with medium flesh and than painted in the new eyebrows.
The hair was painted with a mixture of black and dark brown, first black
was laid as a base, than a mixture of black and brown was applied to the
raised parts and finally brown was added as highlights. The uniform was
painted burgundy on the right side and arm and sash and metallic pewter
was used on the left side and skirt. Both paints were mixed with talc and
the brush was drawn across the body to give the cloth texture. The
ruffed edge of the sash, belt and boots were painted black. The section
on leg between the skirt and boots was painted with a mixture of clear
gloss and black (a tiny drop, just enough to tint it) to make it appear
like stockings. The entire figure was painted with a clear gloss to blend
in all of the colors and to protect them.